Hot Dogs Healthier Than Chicken? What You Need to Know About HCAs

Could hot dogs be your key to better health?The short answer: Probably not.The long answer is a bit more complicated than you might have thought, thanks to a new study from Kansas State looking at the levels of a possibly...

The long answer is a bit more complicated than you might have thought, thanks to a new study from Kansas State looking at the levels of a possibly carcinogenic substance in several types of ready-to-eat meats.

Given the choice of all of the above, most health-minded folks would probably reach for the chicken, hoping to steer clear of preservatives and extra sodium (and who knows what else) in the processed meats.

But — surprise! — rotisserie chicken has higher levels of HCAs than any other type of meat the K-State experts tested.

Before you break out the pepperoni, here’s what the lead author, food chemistry professor J. Scott Smith, Ph.D., had to say:

“Overall, we thought the HCA levels in all these ready-to-eat products were pretty low, but it makes sense, because they’re cooked at low temperatures. And as for the rotisserie chicken, it was just the outer skin, the parts that were really black and charred, that were high in HCAs.”

They’re chemicals that are formed when “muscle meat” (aka poultry, fish, beef or pork) is cooked at high temperatures, via frying, grilling or baking rather than boiling or microwaving. They may be carcinogenic — animal research has proven them to cause breast, colon, liver, and lung cancer, among others — but most studies use extremely high doses of HCAs, up to thousands of times the level the average person would consume even in a heavy-grilling summer.

Still, even a slight risk of cancer is hard to ignore. If you’re a charcoal fiend, here’s what you should know:

The more charring or grill marks, the more HCAs. Make sure your meat is cooked through, but try cooking over indirect heat to avoid too much blackening.

Flipping meat often (rather than letting it sit on the heat source) may help reduce HCA formation.

Microwaving before grilling, thus reducing the amount of time the meat needs to stay over high heat, reduces HCAs.

As for that rotisserie chicken? Simply remove the charred portion of the skin, and you’ll be virtually HCA-free.

“This is a surface phenomenon — as soon as you go three to four millimeters in, or even less than that, there’s nothing there,” Smith says. Plus, removing the skin from your chicken cuts the fat content in half.